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Reference or credit — which word should be used in which context when we are talking about blog entries?

If we have taken the information from ten different sites, and put it all together in one place, which word out of the above would be appropriate then and why?

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Give credit to somebody: give recognition, praise, approval

The credit of this discovery will be given to you.

Reference: act of referring, a mention

You should make a reference to a dictionary. The book is full of references to places that I know well.

You see credits given to people at the end of movies. You do not refer to the source there. Similarly, people are given credit for discoveries made by them. You do not refer to the source here either.

But when you make a reference, you actually are referring to the source (i.e., it's location).

So, in your case, you should "make a reference" and not "give credit".

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  • thanks, but actually I meant that blogs and threads are written by some particular persons. So, should in I think of source or people in these caseS?
    – Aquarius_Girl
    May 25, 2012 at 6:23
  • You just give a reference (link) to that page.
    – user20934
    May 25, 2012 at 8:46
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I'd say 'reference' if: You want to refer people back to the original location of the information (by providing a link or adress). 'Credit' would be appropriate if you merely mention the name of the original source without an actual location where to find it. In my opinion, you should always use references.

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  • +1. But whether to refer or to credit depends on the situation. "Barrie England has done a lot of good work in this field" means the reader checks the titles rather than you; better for both.
    – Tim Lymington
    May 23, 2012 at 23:55
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I think "References" is better than "Credits"; it seems more suitable for bibliographic information.

That said, I'm not sure it's the best word to use. I'd be more inclined to go with Sources Cited.

Incidentally, Wikipedia says this:

This section may be known as:
- References
- Bibliography
- Works cited
- Works consulted

However, the in-text referencing style in online publications may differ from the conventional parenthetical referencing.

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